Indiana making changes to preparation as Michigan looms

Indiana football is on a five-game losing streak, so coach Kevin Wilson opting to change a few things probably makes a lot of sense.

In short, this week the Hoosiers will prepare earlier in the week for Michigan then take their day off later.

“As we went through, we decided this week we're going to give them a day off at the end of the week from the physical side,” Wilson told reporters in Bloomington on Monday. “It kind of jump-starts Michigan. We do our Sunday work the way we do it. We actually didn't practice (Sunday), which a lot of times we would. But then we kind of went out today to start Michigan. We'll give them an off day I think probably Thursday. We'll have a jump now.

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“We always change lifting practice, mode, length, emphasis. We've changed as the years went along subtly. We talked about this last week. Just think our guys are really putting a great deal of effort in the prep. They're putting a great deal of effort on the game. That being said, we need to be smart in how we're practicing.”

He called the change “a subtle tweak” and indicated the main difference would be less physical work at the end of the week.

“That being said, we challenged them: We need better prep early in the week,” Wilson said. “Some of those things you want to make up at the end with those last-minute walkthroughs, you're losing. We'll see how it goes.”

The move did not come about likely, as Wilson explained it was considered last week.

“These kids that worked hard, you just don't want to lose them physically or psychologically down the stretch here,” he said. “It was a little bit of the thought process. One-hour light practice and we lifted weights.”